Leoben

That was maybe the worst ruling I've seen since I started watching sumo. I don't want to be conspiratorial but it's really hard not to. Damn.

Now I want to see Hakuho in one of these training reports. Do any of the active guys make it competitive with him? I don't think so.

Great article, I'll be keeping an eye on him for sure. He's got great physical tools and 10 years of judo + 5 years of rugby experience are a really solid background to bring into sumo.

Choosing your battles takes skill

Congrats to Terunofuji. Can he make it 11? 12? In the last 2 years, he has a 100% win rate in tournaments he finishes so he still has something left in the tank. I don't think he should be under pressure to retire yet. The other interesting story for me has been Hakuoho, who finally looks like he has regained some of his pre-injury form. His utchari today was one of the moves of the tournament, just beautiful.

Same. His style was never my favorite, but he's been there at the top with that O next to his name since I first got into sumo. It will feel weird for him to not be Ozeki.

Hoshoryu snaps his year-long losing streak against Kotozakura, but I wonder if he hurt himself doing so. He was slow to get up, was looking down at his knees, and his expression wasn't one of satisfaction like he usually has when he gets an important win.

Is two wins enough to keep Takerufuji in Juryo or is he still at risk of dropping to the unsalaried ranks? If yes, also wondering if the plan all along was for him to enter, do just enough to keep his rank, and then exit and continue to rest up.

Shonannoumi with a really cool counter to a henka.

Oh man, could be an ACL or MCL injury. We may be looking at a Wakatakakage timeline. Fingers crossed it's not that bad.

Terunofuji is looking much better than I expected. I'm so used to him dropping matches against lesser opponents that 3-0 is surprising. I hope the painkillers he must be popping like candy can keep him going so he can finally get his 10th.

I woke up around 4 am to go to the bathroom and I grabbed my phone because I knew some of the lower division matches would be going on and practically the first one I saw was Enho's comeback match. Went back to bed in a bad mood.

Was going to write more or less the same thing. The only tactic I can see working for Abi is hitting a strong nodowa, releasing fast and converting that into a pull down. I don't think a henka is going to do it, Onosato is too fast and he doesn't overextend at the tachiai because he doesn't need to lean very far forward to output power. I don't even know if Abi has the strength to be able to push him upright, he very well may be the strongest rikishi in the division with Terunofuji being in the state he is.

Praying for Abi tomorrow to add some excitement to this tournament.

Now that was a beautiful throw.